What would the pig say?

Grizzly, a Hampshire hog, playfully sticks his tongue out through his pen in the swine barn. Photo by Carlos Ferrand

The Stock Show and Rodeo offers an array of pork-based food options.

By Bleah B. Patterson

bpatterson13@student.alamo.edu

At the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, patrons like to indulge in less-than-healthy entrees.

Fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, glazed doughnut bacon cheeseburger, hot beef sundae and chocolate-covered marshmallows are among the most popular treats.

Our porcine friends, however, who just a few buildings away are being shampooed, washed, pampered, given treats and even snuggled by their owners, seem to be getting the worst of it. Signs on several booths advertise various ways to enjoy pork.

High school freshman Kelbi Hyles was proud to present her show pig, Grizzly, a 325-pound Hampshire hog. Grizzly is safe because he will be bought for breeding, not eating.

Not all pigs are so lucky.

With signs advertising bacon-covered hot dogs and barbecue pork-covered nachos, it stands to reason to wonder just how safe pigs are when they visit the rodeo.

Jackie’s French Fries stand sells more than 150 pounds of bacon a day in a chicken-fried bacon dish, which often doubles on weekends, an employee said.

Baconade, fresh-squeezed lemonade with syrup reminiscent of freshly fried pork fat, is quickly becoming a popular beverage among thirsty rodeo attendees, Robert Ojeda, a two-year employee of the lemonade stand, said.

Big G’s pulled pork sandwiches, a southern classic, run through 125 pounds a day and more on weekends.

If we were to ask the pig, what would the answer be? Is the pampered life worth the bite?